Largest housing plan outside Dublin welcomed

A PROPOSED €1 billion housing development, the largest ever planned for outside of Dublin, has passed its first hurdle with tentative approval from a local authority.

It is expected that joint developers, Coleman Brothers and Fleming Construction, will formally apply to Cork County Council for planning permission in the next few weeks.

Their plans include a wide range of homes from five- bedroom detached to high density apartments, two new primary schools, a secondary school and childcare facilities at Stoneview, two miles north of Blarney.

It is envisaged that a large central park will incorporate a range of playgrounds, woodlands and other amenity areas.

A neighbourhood centre with shops, offices, restaurants and a family resource centre will also be built.

What is essentially a new town will be connected to a new railway station for easy commuter access to the city and Mallow, and a park- and-ride facility will be built alongside it.

Planners say a network of cycle lanes will facilitate easy car-free access within the site linking houses to shops, transport, schools and recreation areas.

In addition, a new interchange on the N20 (Cork- Mallow road) will give residents at Stoneview and Blarney direct access to the N20, and this will include a flyover.

Station Road, to the north of the railway, will be upgraded and will link directly into the neighbourhood centre.

For the first time a special partnership group was set up between the developers and locals in an attempt to iron out any perceived problems. The idea for a consultative forum came from Cllr John Gilroy.

While residents in the adjoining townlands of Curraghnalaght and Ardamadane are not against the development they still have some problems with it and state that they weren’t overly happy about the consultative process.

Their spokesman, Kevin Conway, said that it was the developers’ intention to divert some of Station Road through part of the new town, whereas it would prove less congested if a new road was built.

“The volume of houses is not a problem if the development is done correctly. Station Road should be allowed to stay as it is and should be traversed by new road flyovers or underpasses.

“The number of houses must be no more than 2,500 and we have to ensure all the proper amenities are built,” Mr Conway said.

Mr Gilroy said proper amenities were essential to quality of life and he would be insisting that they were constructed as part of the plan.

“I recently visited Cambourn, a new town 12 miles west of Cambridge. It was of similar size to Stoneview and I saw a full range of amenities for all age groups. This will be a 10-year project, and recreation and amenity needs must be placed as a priority. We will be absolutely insisting on it,” Mr Gilroy said.

He said he was happy enough with the consultation process between locals and developers, but admitted that there are “some expectations on both sides which haven’t been realised”.

The Department of Education said it hadn’t yet received any formal plans for any of the three schools and it is expected it could be a number of years before any of them are built. However, it has received informal communications.

Vincent O’Donovan, a director of Fleming Construction, said: “Following two years of very detailed preparation by top professionals, we believe the new town of Stoneview will be a very sought after location and be a huge addition to this area.”

The development will be built mainly on the old Blarney Golf Course and already a planning application has been received for upgrading sewerage and water services in the area.

Mr Gilroy said he expected the developers to apply for planning shortly and they have indicated that they are hoping to start construction next year.

Stoneview is just three kilometres from Monard, where the county council has zoned enough land for a 5,000-house town.

It is not envisaged that planning permission will be sought on this land for at least five years.